Goncalo Amaral is a shadow of his former self but says he still has no sympathy for the parents of the missing youngster

BY MARTIN FRICKER 23:00, 21 APR 2017UPDATED23:03, 21 APR 2017

The graffiti on the side of the run-down apartment building reads “Foda a policia”. You don’t need to be fluent in Portuguese to figure out the expletive-laden translation.

This crime-ridden Lisbon estate is home to the ex-detective once tasked with solving Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

The past decade has not been kind to Goncalo Amaral, the former high-flying head of the Policia Judiciariac. He was sacked from the Maddie probe after criticising British police and making mistakes.

Amaral then penned a damning book pointing the finger of blame at her parents, Kate and Gerry. He accused them of covering up her death and faking her abduction.

The couple sued, sparking an eight-year libel battle that the ex-cop has now won.

But the fight took a heavy toll on the dad-of-three, who is a pale shadow of the larger-than-life Portimao chief tasked with solving the case in May 2007.

In the early days, he was alleged to work just four-and-a-half-hours a day. Sporting a large beer belly, he regularly enjoyed three-hour lunches.

Amaral, 57, split from second wife Sofia in 2012, blaming the pressures of the case. He moved back to the tough Lisbon suburb of Olivais, where he grew up. His expensive suits and fedora are gone.

So too has the beer belly and chauffeur-driven Mercedes, replaced by a battered Citroen Picasso.

But the arrogance remains – as the Mirror discovered when we confronted Amaral last week.

He cruelly said he has no sympathy for the McCanns, who mark the 10th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance next month.

Amaral also refused to apologise for the mistakes that hampered the early days of the probe. Instead, he threatened to have our reporter and photographer arrested.

But it was his cruel refusal to offer any sympathy to Kate and Gerry that was the most damning.

The couple blame him for a string of errors at the beginning of the much-criticised probe. But Amaral, who resigned in June 2008 after a 27-year career, is unrepentant.

Asked if he would apologise to the McCanns for botching the probe, he said: “No”. He has previously accused Kate and Gerry, of trying to ruin his life. Amaral blames them for his decision to quit, giving up one third of his pension pot as a result.

Asked if he had any sympathy for them ahead of the 10th anniversary, Amaral replied: “No.”

He now spends his days writing crime novels and drinking pints in the Cabeca de Touro bar in Olivais.

One local said: “He used to be a big guy, a face, everyone around here knows him. Now he just blends in, he isn’t the big man any more. We all know about the Madeleine case. It was not good for him.”

It is a far cry from his time on the Algarve, when he was regarded as one of the country’s most dogged detectives.

But even when he was handed joint control of the Madeleine case in May 2007, Amaral was already mired in controversy.

He was under investigation for his role in covering up an alleged attack on the mother of another missing girl, Joana Cipriano, nine. Three officers were accused of beating a confession out of mum Leonor.

Joana’s body was never found but Leonor and brother Joao were convicted of her murder in 2005.

The three officers were cleared of torture but Amaral was convicted in 2009, after his retirement, of falsifying documents.

He blamed “political pressure” for the verdict and 18-month suspended sentence.

Later that year, Kate and Gerry began their legal battle after he penned The Truth of the Lie.

At one point, Amaral was so broke he relied on £50,000 in donations from the UK to defend the libel action. Some of it came from anti-McCann trolls.

Amaral was eventually ordered to pay £360,000 after Kate and Gerry won their defamation case in 2015.

But the order was overturned in April 2016, forcing the McCanns to appeal in Portugal’s Supreme Court.

Senior judges sided with him in February and their ruling angered the McCanns by saying they had not yet been proved to be innocent.

Tony Bennett knows all about being threatened with jail, not nice is it Mr. Reporters. Oh diddums Rocky threatened to call the police pity he hadn't and for the record I am unrepentant for thinking that. BOOHOO poor old reporters didn't like being told the police would be called.

We can only begin to imagine how poor Brenda must have felt harrassed by the press and her face plastered all over the tv by these horrible people.

Disgraceful press and disgusting piece.

Outlining Rocky's poor circumstances in such a graphic way must only add to his chances of getting a huge payout from certain media outlets should he decide to sue.

As this has all been printed in UK then he must surely sue in the UK where mega payouts have become the norm.

Go Rocky, Go.

____________________Judge Judy to shifty witnesses - LOOK AT ME - Um is not an answer.

If I forget to add it to a post everything is In My Opinion and I don't know anything for sure.

Another piece of disgusting​ vile , I will not call​ it journalism from the gutter press , now sinking into​ the sewer​ with the rats .

My daughter​ this week had to call the police over​ harassment​ and​ stalking by her ex , fortunately now resolved .

So the reporter and cameraman​ got upset on being told to go away and allow Goncalo his privacy , aah bless​ poor things bet it's not the​ first time they've​ been​ threatened with the police .

I am not a vindictive​ person but I really​ do hope​ Señor​ Amaral​ has his​ " lawyers​ watching" he has remained​ quiet and dignified throughout all this​ ( a word I doubt the McCanns even​ know ) . Everyone has their point where they say " enough is enough " I am a great believer in karma , what you put out good or bad comes back to you​ threefold​ .

Go Goncalo .

____________________Be humble for you​ are made​ of earth . Be noble for you​ are made of stars .

@ChippyM wrote:If the people that donated to Amaral's defense are 'anti McCann Trolls' surely this bloke is an 'anti Amaral Troll'?

What of all the people who innocently gave their hard earned cash to the Find Madeleine Co. Ltd.., to help the search for little lost Madeleine, the fund that according to Uncle Brian Kennedy, I quote.. "the money will be used for all sorts of reasons but probably mainly for legal expenditure"

Are they trolls?

@01:58

____________________“ The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made" - Groucho Marx

@Keitei wrote:This, to me, is not worthy of any decent comment, it's an appalling piece. I am disgusted.

Agreed! A blatantly biased and gratuitously offensive piece of gutter-sniping (not journalism!) for which Fricker should be thoroughly ashamed.Inadvertently however, it does reveal the degree to which the McCs' vindictive hounding has come close to destroying both the private and professional lives of the one decent cop whose only goal was to find the truth about the mysterious disappearance of Madeleine.

Interestingly,The Mirror is not allowing comments on Fricker's libelous mud-slinging... Too scared perhaps, given the public's growing intolerance of this bizarre MSM circus...?

GA speaks only a little English and understands only a little English, so if he's having questions thrown at him it's likely he wouldn't understand - just as I wouldn't understand if a Portuguese journalist thrust a microphone in my face and started asking me questions in Portuguese - so, as you say, he just says "No".

Eddie and Keela alerted to items and places concerned with the McCanns - and importantly to no other items or places.

According to Eddie and Keela, the body of Madeleine McCann lay lifeless behind the sofa in Apartment 5a, clinging to the only thing from which she could derive any comfort; a soft toy called 'Cuddle cat'.

Former Met Police Chief Lord Stevens:"There was no hard evidence because of the sheer inadequacy of the Portuguese investigation. There's absolutely no chance the parents of Madeleine McCann would be charged with her murder in this country. I've been a detective at the most senior level for 30 years and have never seen such a witch-hunt, or one based on such flimsy evidence."

Ch Insp Tavares de Almeida: "Kate and Gerald McCann are involved in the concealment of the cadaver of their daughter Madeleine McCann. From what has been established up to now, everything indicates that the McCann couple, in self-defence, doesn't want to deliver the cadaver immediately and voluntarily."

Kate's book 'madeleine', Page 219: "Did they really believe that a dog could smell the 'odour of death' three months later from a body that had been so swiftly removed?"

After forensic analysis of the 'Last Photo' there is little doubt now that the pool photo CANNOT POSSIBLY have been taken on the Thursday 3rd May, but most likely on the Sunday 29th April. So, where was Madeleine at lunchtime on Thursday? We don't know, but we can begin to "purport theories" based both on strong evidence, and lack of evidence.

Dr Gonçalo Amaral, retired PJ Coordinator: "The English can always present the conclusions to which they themselves arrived in 2007. Because they know, they have the evidence of what happened, they don't need to investigate anything. When MI5 opens their files, then we will know the truth."

Ex-Met DCI Colin Sutton: "The most likely scenario is that Madeleine was stolen to order by slave traders and smuggled into Africa for a rich family who wanted a white child."

Ex-Met DCI Andy Redwood had a "revelation moment" on BBC1's Crimewatch on 14th October 2013 when he announced that Operation Grange had eliminated the Tanner sighting - which opened up the 'window' of opportunity', in accordance with their remit, to allow the staged abduction to happen.

Tracey Kandohla: "A McCann pal told The Sun Online: "Some of the savings have been siphoned off from the Find Maddie Fund into a fixed asset account, which financial experts have advised them to do. It can be used for purchases like buying a house or building equipment."

Gerry McCann called for an example to be made of 'trolls'. SKY reporter Martin Brunt doorstepped Brenda Leyland on 2 October 2014 after a 'Dossier' was handed in to Police by McCann supporters. She was then found dead in a Leicester hotel room the next day. Brenda paid the price.